‘That’s a loaded question’: Seibold refuses to rule out player poaching

He has already taken a swag of Rabbitohs support staff up to Brisbane with him, now Anthony Seibold could have eyes on some of the Rabbitohs’ best players.

Laine Clark

AAPDecember 4, 201811:08am

Anthony Seibold has welcomed the pressure from former Broncos’ greats.Source:AAP

A Redfern exodus to Red Hill may not stop with Anthony Seibold’s support staff.

After Seibold confirmed he would be taking his assistants with him to Brisbane, the new Broncos coach baulked when asked whether he will poach South Sydney players.

“That’s a loaded question,” he said.

NSW hooker Damien Cook has already been linked to Brisbane with the Rabbitohs desperate to lock in his signature.

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Seibold was finally unveiled as Broncos coach on a five-year deal on Monday after Wayne Bennett was sensationally sacked by voice message following a tumultuous month-long swap saga.

While guarded about luring Rabbitohs players, Seibold said he would bring South Sydney assistants Ben Cross and Peter Gentle along with high performance boss Paul Devlin.

It is believed Broncos great Allan Langer will remain at Red Hill as a trainer under Seibold but Bennett’s Brisbane assistant Jason Demetriou and high performance chief Jeremy Hickmans will leave with the master coach.

Seibold wasn’t fazed if Broncos wanted to follow Bennett out the door but it is believed at-risk players Corey Oates, Matt Lodge and Tevita Pangai Jnr have re-signed with the club with Brisbane set to confirm their deals soon.

Oates is believed to have signed a one-year deal but raised eyebrows when he did not take part in Seibold’s first training session on Monday, instead standing on the sidelines.

“That’s an individual decision,” Seibold said of Broncos defecting.

“I can’t control that.

“(But) one thing I try to do is establish strong relationships with the (player) group.”

The rumour mill is already whirring since Seibold’s Red Hill arrival with playmaker Kodi Nikorima reportedly being shopped to the Warriors as a possible replacement for Cronulla signing Shaun Johnson.